Pointing device with relocatable cable

• US 5,760,766 A
• Filed: 03/29/1993
• Issued: 06/02/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Auber, Roland Joseph, Mosley, Joseph Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHIN, VIVIAN C
• Application Number:
  US08/038,424
• Time in Patent Office: 1,891 Days
• Field of Search: 340/709, 340/710, 439/452, 439/456, 439/457, 345/156, 345/161, 345/163, 345/167
• US Class Current: 345/167
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0331 Finger worn pointing device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03549 Trackballs G06F3/03541 takes precedence

Abstract

A trackball pointing device has a housing of a size that can be readily held in the hand of a user. The housing includes a top wall upon which are mounted a trackball and buttons for manipulation by a user'"'"'s thumb. A cable passes emerges from the bottom wall of the housing. The bottom wall includes a plurality of channels extending in different directions from where the cable passes through the housing wall. Each channel is recessed and has strain relief tabs therein so that the cable can be placed in one of the channels and releasably held in place by the tabs. A user can locate or place the cable in the one of the channels most suitable to the user.

Claims

1. A hand-held, finger-operated trackball pointing device comprising:

a housing for housing electrical components of said device, said housing being box shaped and having a top wall, a bottom wall, and side walls extending between said top wall and said bottom wall, said housing being of a size adapted to be held in a user'"'"'s hand and having cursor controls mounted thereon which are adapted to be manipulated by a user while said housing is being held in the user'"'"'s hand;

said cursor controls comprising a trackball mounted in said housing and having a portion protecting upwardly from said top wall, for manipulation by a user'"'"'s finger;

said cursor controls further comprising selectively actuated button means mounted said top wall adjacent to said trackball, for actuation by a user'"'"'s finger;

a cable for attaching said pointing device to a computer, said cable passing downwardly through said bottom wall of said housing;

said bottom wall having two recessed channels extending orthogonally relative to each other between said sides of said housing, said channels intersecting where said cable passes through said bottom wall, each of said channels having a U-shaped cross section opening downwardly from said bottom wall, each channel having a depth at least as great as the thickness of said cable so that said cable can be positioned vertically within said channel and lie wholly within said channel without projecting downwardly beyond said bottom wall;

said cable being flexible allowing a user to selectively position said cable in any one of said channels so as to direct said cable away from said housing in a direction selected by the user and minimize interference between the cable and the user'"'"'s hand during operation of said pointing device; and

tab means located in said channels for frictionally holding said cable in place in the one of said channels where said cable is positioned by the user.

2. A trackball pointing device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said tab means comprises a plurality of tabs;

each tab extending partially across a channel from one side wall towards another side wall but terminating short of said another side wall to provide space for inserting said cable, and each tab having a surface for wedging said cable in such channel between said surface and an end wall of such channel.

3. A trackball pointing device in accordance with claim 2 wherein said housing is rectangularly shaped in plan view, said cable passes through the center of said bottom wall, and said channels open laterally through the bottom centers of said side walls.

4. A trackball pointing device operable in a hand-held mode and comprising:

a housing for housing electrical components of said device, said housing being box shaped and having a top wall, a bottom wall, and side walls extending between said top wall and said bottom wall, said housing being of a size adapted to be held in a user'"'"'s hand;

said bottom wall having four recessed channels that intersect at the center of said bottom wall and extend laterally therefrom at right angles to each other, said channels each having an inverted U-shaped cross section of a depth and width allowing a cable to be routed through a channel without extending outside of such channel, said cross section being bounded by two side walls and a top wall extending between said side walls;

cursor controls mounted on said top wall and including a trackball and button means that are selectively hand manipulable by a user for generating cursor control signals;

a flexible cable for attaching said pointing device to a computer and transmitting said signals, said cable emerging from said housing into said channels where said channels intersect, said cable being routed through one of said channels and extending away from said housing along the direction of the channel in which the cable is positioned; and

tab means located in said channels for releasably and frictionally holding said cable in place in the one of said channels and allowing said cable to be repositioned by a user in any one of the other channels to extend away from said housing in a direction selected by the user and minimize interference between the cable and the user'"'"'s hand during operation of said pointing device.

5. A trackball pointing device in accordance with claim 4 wherein said tab means comprises a plurality of tabs, each tab being a cantilever having a length less than the width of a channel and extending partially across a channel from one side wall towards the other side wall, so that said cable can be positioned in said channel and wedged by said tab between said tab and said top wall of said channel.